A most useful tool

Oddly enough, this thing has been one of the more useful tools I've ever gotten hold of. It's a 2oz. ball-peen hammer:

You can find them new, only places I know are Brownell's gunsmithing supply and some watchmakers supply houses. I found this one at a flea market.

No, it's no good for pounding things into shape. However... in knife work, I use it for setting pins into place, for tapping a guard into place, I've used the peen end for giving a guard and/or pommel a hammered finish. In gun work, tapping pins into place, tapping a sight to one side or the other for windage adjustment(usually with a brass punch). With a wood block for padding you can move a tight part into place, like the gas tube assembly on an M1. Small rivits can be set, and so on.

Nice thing is that with the size of this, you'd have to work at it to hit a piece too hard, and it's light enough that making a lot of small, controlled strokes is easy.

As I said, a most useful tool.

Four years later

I thought about this yesterday. A lot.

That was a day off, I was making tea and listening to a local rock station when they came on and said there were reports of an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. First thought, some idiot in a Cessna got caught in air currents while flying where he shouldn't and crashed. They didn't say 'airliner' at that time, so I didn't think much of it. Then (as I recall) the report came of a plane hitting the Pentagon. One plane, accident possibly; two planes, planned attack, and I turned on the tv, just a minute or two before the second plane hit the other tower.

I stood there watching this and getting more pissed by the minute. And the too-often inane chatter of the news weenies didn't help. And then, one of the idiots, a female I believe- I don't remember which channel I was on- repeated for about the fourth or fifth time something like "terror striking into the hearts of America" and I yelled "What about the PISSED OFF striking in the hearts of America?"

Damn near screamed it, really. I didn't need this idiot speaking as if everyone was huddling in front of the screen shaking, and it really annoyed me. And it still does. How can anyone NOT be pissed off about it?

How can anyone NOT be pissed at the bastards who did this? Listening over the next few days to people counseling that we wait, that we show 'restraint'- which to them meant saying "We're sorry!" over and over and crawling on our bellies-, then seeing protests that we should not use military action... I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. I was sitting there thinking, I want them dead. The ones who helped them plan this, the ones who gave them safe places to train, the ones who gave them intelligence and aid, all of them. And I still do.

Bitch all you want to at Bush, I do. There's a lot he has and hasn't done that ticks me off. But bitch at him about real things. I hear some idiot spouting the 'War for Halliburton' shit, and I think seriously about running over them at this point. Mark Steyn said today that the loonies look on Bush as the nutcase moslems look on the Jews; responsible for anything and in league with the devil, and I'm sick of it.

I'm sick of politicians who voted to go to war giving speeches about how it's a mistake, and don't you dare bring up what I said in the vote. I'm sick of people who say "we support the troops but not the war" who off-screen speak of the troops as troglodytes who don't have the brains to think, and flatly say they want our troops to die. I'm sick of people who claim that being on the other side is 'patriotic protest', and scream "Don't you question my patriotism!" when this bullshit is pointed out. I damn well DO question your patriotism, and I do it based on your own damn words. I question the patriotism of politicians who think any military problem, anything that happens is nothing more than a way to push their party, regardless of consequences.

I'm sick to death of idiots who blame this country for all wrongs in the world. Yeah, we use a lot of energy; we also produce a huge amount of stuff, from food to machinery and tools and medicine and books and on and on with it, so shut the hell up. This country, despite the actions of some of these people- and I include a lot of politicians- is still the the place where you can speak your mind, where you can defend yourself, where you can read what you want and say what you think.

In a way you've got the war against the terrorists, fought with troops and equipment, and we've got the war against the terrorists of the mind. These are the clowns who think you shouldn't be allowed to say or think or believe anything that might 'upset' anyone, including the islamist nuts who want us all converted, dhimmi or dead. They think your right to think ends as soon as you have a thought that someone might be bothered by.

To both groups, a big Fuck You. To the first, you're dying by the bunch now, and you'll continue to do so. Despite what his the evening 'news' on the major channels, most of the people in this country support our troops and want us to WIN. Not 'come to accomodation' with you, to stomp you until you stop trying to kill us. For good. To the second, something you don't seem to understand: Freedom of Speech has to include people you don't like and ideas you don't agree with, or it doesn't actually exist. If someone is kept from speaking because their words might give you the vapors, there is no freedom of speech, that's become only a buzz phrase that makes you feel good to say you support. So screw you both.

I've got a flag flying out front, because I love this country. Not whoever is in the White House or Congress, the United States of America. Not a political party, but the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution. That gives you a problem, stick it up your ass.

I'm done for now.

The more I hear about NO, the more pissed I get

Geek with a .45 has numerous links to video of the actions of these clowns. Including an old lady being body-slammed into a wall. She wasn't threatening; an officer asked to see her gun, she showed it to him, and he slams her into the wall and takes it.

On top of everything else, this is- I'm so damn mad it's hard to type. There is, as various stuff at the Geek's place and others listed there and at the Carnival point out, nothing legal about this. This is violation of the highest law of this land, and the police and Guard and feds helping with it do not care. They've got their orders, and that's all that matters.

It's as clear a demonstration as possible, that all too often the police are NOT your friend; they are a tool of whoever gives their orders. It's a disgrace, and I'm looking forward to hearing of lawsuits and trials. The officers/personnel doing this, and the chief of NOPD should be charged AND sued for this.

God, I'm mad.

Oh, and let's not forget that the private security guards, including the guys with M-16s and other automatic weapons, aren't being disarmed; oh no, THEY'RE just fine in the chief's eyes. The sorry bastard.

Double-Barrel Carnival of Cordite

Now up at Gullyborg. Lots of disaster related stuff. And updates on the gun seizure BS in New Orleans.

They can't prevent looting, but they can steal your gun

The New Orleans PD, that is.

I first read about this on some news site earlier, and now Publicola has more on it, including links to other information and video. And a fine rant. It seems that there may well be federal agents and National Guard troops helping out in this. If so, want to be the Feds are using those NICS records they're not supposed to keep to tell the NOPD where to go? Illegal as hell, but want to bet against it? After that mess in VA at the gun show a couple of weeks ago?

Notice that the superintendant of police says ""No one will be able to be armed," Compass said. "Guns will be taken. Only law enforcement will be allowed to have guns."" Not 'nobody carrying guns', but "allowed to have guns". Coming from the idiot who couldn't do anything about looters, in an administration that didn't bother to follow their own damned evacuation plan.

And how much are you willing to bet that the owners will EVER get their firearms back?

Isn't this crap just wonderful? Brings back that saying about "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help".

Wounded Warriors

Go to Mr. Completely, here, and read it. Then write.

Flashlights

With all the disaster preparedness posts going around, one thing that's almost always mentioned is flashlights. A standard-type can be found at the dollar store, along with batteries; quality, so-so. If you're willing to spend the money, you can find something like a Surefire; the least expensive G2 ain't cheap; but it'll blind somebody in a dimly-lit room or outside at night to amazing distances(thanks to the Geek for originally introducing me to these). And their bigger ones? DAMN! they're bright.

However, the one I mostly wanted to mention here is this beast, which doesn't even have a brand name on it:


I found it on Ebay, and the shipping cost more than it did. It's 3.5 inches long, the head is 1" across and holds 12 LEDs, and it runs on one AA battery. It puts out a nice, bright light with no shadows and a little bit of blue tint. I got this thing because I wanted a small light for the motorcycle kit, and it's a new gadget; having been without benefit of artificial light a few times, I tend to collect flashlights.

I've been using this thing for several months, a minute here, a couple there, and decided to see how long it'd last. So about 8 last night I turned it on and left it. When I left for work four hours later it was still bright. When I got home it was still on; not nearly as bright, I'd say enough to let you see where you put your feet at night. So this thing, on the battery that had already had use, put out full strength for at least four hours and was still burning at roughly 1/4 strength after 12 hours. That's not bad at all.

There are a lot of LED lights out there now, some good and some not. So for general use and for emergency kits, you might want to check them out.

The Axe, a test

I posted some pictures in the past of a fighting axe I made. I've used it off & on for trimming branches cut down in the yard, but never thought to treat it as a test. Then today, while I was pruning the trees(again) and cutting up the branches to stack, I remembered a: I have a camera and b: this would be interesting to actually check out. I had been snipping off stuff up to about 3/4" with short chops, not a lot of force, so I decided to measure some stuff and try some things.

First, this is the implement in question:



The head is a fraction shy of 7" long, the edge is 4 3/4"(following the curve), and it weighs about 1.25lbs. I'm guessing weight, I don't have a scale. The haft is oak, 36" from butt to bottom of the eye.

I took a couple of branches and propped them upright. Figure a full swing as being one you'd use with a timber axe to cut wood; one hand at the butt, one near the head, swing it up or sideways and then into the target, one hand sliding down to meet the other to amplify the swing of shoulders and upper body. This was made with one hand at the butt, the other about 2/3's up, making about a 1/2 distance chop with the hands staying in place:

This is elm, measured at 1.25".

Next was a piece 1.5" thick with just about a full-distance swing with hands same as before:

Both of these were a single cut. I've read that a sapling or branch of 1" diameter is roughly equivalent to cutting a human arm or leg bone, which means that either cut could neatly amputate an arm, and would come damn close to taking a leg off in one swing.

When they dug up graves at the Battle of Hastings site, among other things found were a body that had been cut in two at hip-level, the forensics people said by a single stroke. Some of the Saxons, the housecarls(most trusted warriors) of the chieftains in particular used axes with an edge up to a foot long, weighing several pounds, on a five- or six-foot haft. In the hands of a trained fighter, I have no doubt a single stroke could do it.

I've cut through 1" branches with single swings with a sword with no trouble, too. No wonder battles were so bloody.

Oh, while I was doing this my security team was doing some research of their own. Notice the apprentice testing tooth penetration, while the supervisor -er, supervises.

Further thought on disaster guns

A comment on my last post on this brought up shotguns, which for some reason I neglected to mention. Happily, others did not forget this(American Drumslinger here).

Big oversight. Two of the reasons a shotgun is recommended as a self-defense weapon are a: it's easier to hit accurately with a longarm than a handgun and b: NO handgun ever made can equal the close-range stopping power of a shotgun. Period.

Another reason often mentioned is sound effect. Just about anyone who might enter your home or business with ill intent will know what it means when they hear the sound of a pump or semi-auto shotgun being charged, and it often makes bad guys decide to leave very quickly.

I think I passed over them before mainly because I had in mind the reports from NO about idiots potting shots at people from rooftops and windows. Generally speaking, a rifle is a better weapon as the range stretches out, allowing accurate fire at greater distances. I say generally because a shotgun(especially with a rifled barrel) and slugs that agree with it can be amazingly accurate to 100-150 yards. If I could choose only one arm to have in case of a disaster like this, good chance it'd be a shotgun. With a mix of buckshot and slugs available, you can take on literally anything out to the aforementioned range- including, if you live in a place where they are, bears and moose if you're stuck in the boonies or they come into town.

There are two problems with a shotgun; recoil and weight. A 12 guage with buckshot or slugs has what some people have described as 'brutal' recoil, and in a lightweight arm it can be nasty. It makes practice more difficult for some folks. You can reduce this by using a 20 guage instead of 12. At home-defense ranges the bad guy won't know the difference, and recoil is significantly less, making it more comfortable to shoot(making practice in good times and accurate repeat shots in bad times easier). Weight is more of a problem. Not in the weapon, in the ammo. No way around it, if you're carrying sufficient ammo for the possibility of having to fight off a gang of looters, shotgun shells are heavy and take up more space than rifle/handgun ammo.

Price is a good factor with them. You can pick up a good quality pump for less than $200 in some cases, and if the barrel is too long it's easy to have cut down; a gunsmith or a gunny friend who knows the procedure can take care of it. And some/I think I've seen Mossberg put out this out/ can be had with a short slug barrel and a longer bird barrel as a set, fast and easy to change.

Overall, the shotgun has a definate place in this. If the comments about recoil above scare you, I apologize, that's not the aim. Recoil sensitivity varies a lot with people(I know grown men who don't like .45's for that reason, and small women who aren't bothered by it), so try it out; it may not bother you at all. If it does a bit, there are options, like adding a high-quality recoil pad or, as I mentioned before with the Benelli Nova, a recoil absorber that fits in the butt.

So don't forget the shotgun as you weigh your options.

St. Penn's Bogus Navigational Journey; I can't pass this up!

If you haven't already heard about this, Sean Penn decided to heroically rescue people from New Orleans. In a small boat. Including "...with members of Penn's entourage, including a personal photographer". Wearing "what appeared to be a white flak jacket". And almost sank.

This was so funny I almost choked laughing, and that was before I read Steve's take on it. And then, praise be, at Little Green Football he's got links to PICTURES!

It's just bloody wonderful. Idiot kisser of dictator ass goes for a big photo op and almost drowns himself. Of course, there's so much pollution in the water right now it's a shame to add more...

And if you're wondering: hell no, I don't think he seriously intended to rescue people. If he did, he'd have had a bigger boat and left his entourage back home. Including the damn photographer, whose presence is one of the big giveaways as to the real intent. If he actually DID believe he was going to accomplish something with that mess, then he's too stupid to be out in public without a keeper. Which he probably is, from past evidence.

In any case, go read and enjoy.

Another thought on disaster guns

The posts I linked to earlier (here) had a number of good suggestions, both in the articles and in the comments. I thought I'd add two things here.

A tube-magazine rifle, like a lever- or some pump-actions, has two problems: they're slower than many others to load/reload, and more difficult to unload. But if that's not a problem for you, there's two good possibilities to consider. First, a lever-rifle in a pistol cartridge, like .45 Colt, .44-40 or .357 Magnum. If you have a pistol in any of these cartridges, you can use the same ammo for both pistol and rifle. And if you have problems with handguns, for instance living someplace like Chicago, these can somewhat take the place of one. Jeff Cooper once wrote of a man who lived in Chicago and showed up at Gunsite for a training class with a Winchester Trapper, a lever-action in .45 Colt. Since he couldn't have a handgun he'd taken this rifle, which has a 16-inch barrel, cut the stock down to the minimum overall length, and used that as his home defense weapon. Cooper said it worked out pretty well. This can also help out if you live in a place where an eeeevill assault weapon, like an SKS or AR-15, could cause you problems; few places will cause you heartache over a cowboy rifle like this.
The same could be said for a new rifle out, the Taurus Thunderbolt(reviewed here). It's a remake of the old Colt Lightning. From the report it's fast, accurate and reliable.

Another thing in their favor is power. All these cartridges have good reputations as fight-stoppers in handguns; add in the velocity you get from that 16-inch barrel, and you've got a serious boost in power, enough to make them able to give accurate fire out to 100 yards or a bit beyond.

One more thing. A .357 Mag chambered rifle can also fire .38 Special ammo, so you can use less expensive .38s for practice, and if stuck somewhere and you need to whack small game, use a .38 instead of the magnum.

The other thought was, if you have a problem with noise/recoil/whatever and just cannot deal with a powerful centerfire rifle or pistol, consider a .22. Not exactly the ideal cartridge for self-defence, but it has the following going for it:
Quiet, compared to just about any centerfire.
Virtually no recoil.
Inexpensive.
This last in important because if you trust in a .22 for your defense armament, you need to be able to hit where you aim, and make multiple hits(especially at close range); you don't have enough power to trust in 'close enough'. .22 ammo is CHEAP. Match grade can run as high or higher than some centerfire, but good-quality stuff can be had for anywhere from less than a dollar to two dollars for a box of 50. You can find what gives the best result in your firearms, buy it by the brick(500 rounds) and shoot a lot for not much money, which both increases your skill level and is fun.
And a good .22 rifle or handgun can be downright cheap compared to a lot of other firearms. A Ruger Mark II or 22/45 can be had for less than $300 new, same for the Browning Buckmark. Add a half-dozen spare magazines and go to the range. And there are a number of revolvers that are also very affordable. In rifles a slide-action or semi-auto can be had for less than $300, often less than $200. For instance, a Ruger 10-22 will run about $150-175 new, maybe less for a good used. Get a bunch of spare magazines, and you can deliver accurate fire as fast as you can aim and shoot for as long as the magazines hold out. And the fact is, you're not liable to need than many. If you need them, though, they're right there in your pocket or bag.

Just some thoughts I thought I'd throw out. Or in. Or whatever.

Gun show weekend!

And for a change, I was able to go.

I almost hate going to these things at times, because at a good show there's so much stuff you'd like to buy! Guns and ammo and cleaning stuff and knives and slings and reloading gear, and so on. This was a pretty good show, so a lot of drooling was done. Yes, I mopped up after myself.

Lots of surplus rifles, Enfields and Mausers and SKS and AK-47 clones; commercial and military pistols and rifles; knives; not as much cleaning stuff as usual. Some clothing, belts, lots of holsters of various types. And lots and lots of ammo. Ammo for almost everything.

This was a sort of family affair, too. My dad came in for it, and since my son was off work, he came along. Dad found some stuff he wanted/needed, I did, and my son found something he wanted. In the kids case a soft-air gun(I think his roommate has an annoying cat).

So a good time was had by all. Only things I was actually looking for that they didn't have was some case lube for reloading, and I need a bullet mold to throw a .38-caliber bullet of 200 grains. No luck on either of those.
But overall, quite nice.

Disaster guns

Mr. Completely linked to an article at Confederate Yankee here, on the subject. Nice piece of work, that also ties in with something Kim took time to post.

One of the things that comes to mind in this is that preparing for trouble doesn't have to cost a fortune. Canned/dried food is fairly cheap, so is bottled water. A good first-aid kit isn't too bad. And good guns for the subject don't cost a fortune.

I was at a gun show today/more later/ and among other things saw that you can buy a 59/66 SKS for $125 plus tax. 500 rounds of Wolf or other ammo can be had for $45-$55. Handguns are going to be higher for a good one, but a good-condition used .38 or .357 Mag revolver can be had for between $200-$300; some good semi-autos aren't much higher. And practice ammo for many handguns can run as low as $4 to $9/box; good defense ammo will cost more, of course. Shotguns? You can find a decent pump for anywhere from $150 up, depending on brand/features, and ammo for it- unless you're getting the gold-plated slug ammo- isn't bad. Thankfully, with modern ammo a cleaning kit can be very basic and do the job(note: a t-shirt you don't wear makes good cleaning patches).

I've known some people who flat would not take preparing for something like this seriously, because it scared them to think about it. It's not, after all, a pleasant subject. But it's one that needs to be considered.

If I ever get married again and need rings,

I think I'll go here. I've seen this method used to make knife guards and pommels, but never seen it in rings before. Absolutely beautiful work.

New Orleans(in particular) and the storm

Was over at Hog on Ice, reading Steve's 'Bush is Satan' post. It pretty much covers the insanity of blaming the President for the mess.

I wasn't going to post anything on this, until I heard the pissing and moaning rant of the Mayor of New Orleans the other day. This is the idiot who left buses sitting to be flooded instead of using them to evacuate people, who waited until, what, 24 hour before the storm hit to make the evacuation mandatory? And then either didn't have or didn't follow plans? And now he whines that the President and/or the Governor need to get off their ass and DO SOMETHING?

And the governor... She has control of the National Guard, and should have had them standing by, instead of waiting until things were bloody out of hand to send in armed troops to take care of the looting. And where was she in the planning/evacuation stage before the damn storm hit?

I was allowing for being stunned at the level of damage, but this crap has no excuse. They both should be kicked in the ass for mismanaging the evacuation and the response.

And the New Orleans cops who were taking part in the looting? They should be in jail. There's a movie called 'The Big Easy' about police corruption in NO; it appears it was more of a documentary than a drama, from what's coming out.

God, what a mess.

Go over to Alphecca

Partly on general principles; he keeps track of a lot of political news where it deals with firearms ownership, like here. And he's testing a .50 BMG rifle. And generally comes up with lots of good stuff to read.

General whatever

This past while has been interesting, which in the old Chinese curse is not necessarily a good thing.

That bitch Katrina really messed up three states. God knows how long it'll actually take to drain New Orleans, especially with the worst of the damned gangs and looters shooting at rescue people. If someone's getting food, diapers, etc. from a store for their family or someone in need, I don't care; if someone's hijacking supply trucks, robbing pharmacies and so forth, I hereby wish the cops and Guard and Army happy live-fire practice. As to private citazens, Michelle Malkin has tracked some cases, and links to, amonng others, Clayton Cramer's Self-Defense blog here.

There are a lot of charities asking for money; giving is a good idea, just check to make sure it's a group that actually uses the money for the purpose. This is why I don't give to the Red Cross; after the mess that happened after 9/11 and other information that came out, I don't trust that group. I gave to Mercy Corps; from what I understand at least 90% of the money they get goes where it's needed.

On to other things...

Kim du Toit is quitting regular blogging, dammit. I'm not bitching at him, I very much understand the reason why. I'm just going to miss my daily dose of uplifting discussion("...more worthy topics, such as whether John McCain should be impaled on a stake or simply hanged.")

Steve finally got his broadband back; happily before he went into withdrawal from his lack of midget porn- er, high-speed access. He's not watching much news; neither am I, I saw enough footage of bodies piled and floating after the tsunami.

Yeah, the cost of gas sucks. What sucks even more is knowing that, among the reasons it's so bad are A: enviroweenies have hissy-fits at the idea of drilling for oil, B: hypocrites like the Kennedys and their butt-monkey friends in Martha's Vineyard demand alternative energy sources, but when someone suggests putting up a wind farm that'll make bumps on the horizon of their view, they scream bloody murder and derail it, C: the same alternate-energy jackasses have purple kittens with pink spots at the mention of 'nuclear power', D: various people who scream they pay too much for fuel and heating oil bitch and scream when an oil company wants to build a new refinery to keep up with demand; and so on.

A motorcycle is nice for various reasons, but ever try to carry a 40-lb. bag of dog food on one?

A truck has drawbacks, but ever try to fit 150-lbs. of coal, or a forge and anvil, in a Prius? I didn't think so.(or a thousand pounds of topsoil, etc.)

I took my daughter to dinner tonight. Two good things about barbeque: how it tastes, and the leftovers you make the dogs happy with.

A friend of mine found a Webley target revolver in .455 Webley caliber a while back. I had a chance to shoot it, and it's downright nice. He got a good price on this one because it needs some work; I'd like to find one like it. It handled very nicely; you wouldn't expect that to look at the damn thing, it's huge.

I've got more limbs I need to trim in the back yard, not to mention helping the friend with the maple. Yuck.

I think that about covers it for now.

Range day

And a good day it was. A little hot, but a nice breeze, mostly right up the range toward the firing line.

Main thing I had to try out was a Mosin-Nagant Model 38

If you're not familiar with the family, a Russian officer name Mosin took a magazine design by Nagant- the same man who designed the 1895 Nagant revolver- and used it to complete his design for what became the mainstay of the Russian and then Soviet army for many years, the Model 1891. Standard type for the time, with a loooong barrel, and- unique to this rifle I believe- a long bayonet that was not issued with a scabbard; unless you would be spending a lot of time indoors, you were supposed to keep it fixed at all times. This rifle had a hexagonal receiver and the sight was calibrated in a Russian measurement called the arshin, about .71 meter. Then in 1930 the rifle was modified, mainly in two ways; the receiver was changed to round for ease of manufacture, and the sights were changed, the front becoming a hooded post and the rear being calibrated in meters. This was known as the (surprise!) model 91/30. Then, they decided that the long barrel was not needed for infantry use for range or power, and a shorter barrel would be easier to carry/use, and they cut the 29" barrel down to 20"(no, these are not exact measurements, if you're worried about to-the-fraction numbers, go look it up). The model 38 did not have an issue bayonet from what I understand; in 1944 the design was changed to included a permanent mount on the barrel that held a swiveling bayonet.

All used the 7.62x54R cartridge. In European standards, the bullet diameter(7.62mm), the length of the case(54mm) and the 'R' meant rimmed. It's roughly comparable to the .30-06 in power, and widely available in surplus and commercial ammo ranging from 150 grain bullets up to 200. Most of the surplus stuff is corrosive primed, so clean accordingly. I was using 150 grain Czech silvertip.

One of the things you'll notice is the short bolt handle. That means that if you have a sticky case in the chamber, you may have to swat it upward with the heel of your hand. It's a cock-on-opening design, so you're pushing against both the mainspring and the sticky case when this happens. A lot of the surplus ammo is steel-cased and laquer-coated, so when it gets hot in firing the laquer can stick to the chamber walls. The sniper rifles made of the 91 and 91/30 had and longer, turned-down handle.

Front sight is a hooded post, rear has a wide U notch. And in standard European fashion when you have the sight set at 100 meters, it's actually sighted for 300, meaning it hits high at 100; about 6" in this case. I'm not going to quote group size, because with the rear notch I had trouble keeping a solid sight picture. I had also run off without my front and rear sandbags, so I'll just say it kept them in a 6" circle at 100. This is one of the times I wish I had a lot of free cash, on rifles like this I'd buy a scout-scope mount that replaces the rear sight and stick a scope on it to test ammo and accuracy. One thing that did help was the trigger. Pulls on these rifles range from pretty good to downright awful; this one was pretty good, just a little creep that wasn't really noticeable when shooting.

One thing you might expect from a barrel shortened this much is an impressive amount of noise, and you'd be right to. It gives a serious boom, and I'm told the fireball at the muzzle is real impressive in dim light.

Overall, it's a pretty good rifle. The bore was nice & shiny, with strong rifling; it wasn't perfect, but for a rifle made in 1943 it's not bad. The exterior finish is a bit rough, mainly on the receiver. Again, for made in the Soviet Union in the middle of WWII, not bad. It would make a good car rifle to keep handy just in case, and I imagine the model 45 would be equally so(and it has a bayonet to scare the GFWs). Ammo is inexpensive(remember about the corrosive priming unless you buy commercial stuff), so you can shoot it a lot without costing a fortune.

The other thing I want to mention is a really handy devise: the Muzzle Mate

It's a plastic bottle with removeable ends. One end has a hole and a padded clamp; stick the muzzle in and clamp it on. Now when a brush comes out the end and sprays solvent, the bottle catches it, and it catches the oily, dirty patches that fall off the end of the cleaning rod. It works nicely, and I wish I'd bought one a long time ago. Someone used to make an adapter that stuck on the barrel and held a coke bottle, but I haven't seen one of those in a while. In any case, this is an accessory I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Ref the ATFE and local agencies at that VA gun show

KnoxNews has this article on the mess. He's got links to the CNS news article about it, and to a Freedom of Information Act response; this from the document:

"The customer would complete the SP-65 and the ATF Federal 4473 in order to purchase the firearm. ATF personnel reviewed their form and determined if the purchaser was located in a certain area of either the City of Richmond or the County of Henrico. ATF personnel would direct either the Richmond PD or Henrico PD Residence Check Team to go by the residence of the individual whose information was contained on the ATF 4473 form to determine if the individual resided at the residence. Upon the completion of the residence check, they would permit the transfer of the firearm or conduct further questions of the perspective purchaser."

As they say, read it all. And hope that charges will be filed against both the federal and local agencies that took part in this. From my understanding, they broke the law. Not 'went to the edge', not 'pushed things a bit'; they broke the law.

Ravenwood and Say Uncle have been covering this as well.

And Showmasters should file civil charges as well. As I said before, there is no excuse for this.

By request of Mr. Completely, Postal Match Notice

He points out:

The closing date to get your entries in for the e-Postal "Snub-or-Not" match is midnight, next Tuesday, the 6th.

You don't have to email in the target pictures for your entries if you post them and send me the URL instead.

If any of you bloggers would be so kind as to post a reminder, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a link to the rules:

http://mrcompletely.blogspot.com/2005/08/e-postal-handgun-match-2-snub-or-not.html

For those of you who have already sent in entries, you should have received an email confirmation that your entries were received. If not, let me know. Don't want anyone to be left out.

So it is written, so let it be done. Or something like that.

I hate being up on a ladder

Four or five feet is ok, but above that, especially with tools in hand doing something, I do not enjoy it. I mention this because of how I spent a big chunk of yesterday evening after work. A friend has a huge old maple in their backyard. Said tree has been damaged by wind and insects, and is going to have to come down. The problems are two.

First, it's not a single trunk, this thing split into five long ago. Second, a lot of it is long enough that if you just cut it at the trunk it'll fall on the house, the nieghbors' house, or the power line, so those have to be cut in sections; and the damn things are high enough I can't figure out how to do that in some way that does not involve bodily injury. In a more rural area(or if I knew someone with a silenced .22 rifle), it wouldn't be bad; get a solid rest and start putting .22's in a line across the branch a little back from the end and take a section off. Repeat as necessary. But that's out. Possibly a scissor-lift platform, but they're not cheap and money is a factor.

They checked with a couple of tree services, and prices ran from about $1200 to $2000 to take it down. I understand why, because even with the right equipment it'll be a bitch to take this all down, but they don't that much. So we spent the evening taking what I could reach for the day with a ladder and pruning pole(I've got one with a chain saw on the end). and reaching any of the stuff a section at a time involved being on the ladder and using the pole. Which meant, in some cases, worrying about either a: falling off the ladder or b: having a limb swing down other than how I expected and sweeping me off the thing.

If you've never done any of this, let me advise you of something; when you cut a four or five-foot section of 6" diameter limb off and hear it hit the ground, it is a powerful reminder of how much you do not want to be anywhere near it as it comes down. So I spent a bunch of time on a ladder with a long pole with a heavy end in my hands, cutting sections off one of the trunks.

We got most of one trunk down and sectioned and stacked, and when there's space there's another one, maybe two, that won't be much trouble. But the rest are going to be a real problem, and so far I can't figure out a good way to do it. Or I can figure out a way, but I'm not too sure how to go about it.

At least I wasn't on the Gulf coast, wondering about blowing/washing away.

Og has a bike

I found out about this a short time ago, and now he's posted about it. Looks like a nice bike, and with the price of gas might be handy to have around.

Of course, some wimpy types(cough/Kim/cough) are saying nasty things about bikes and those who ride. 'Course, coming from someone who, where he grew up, might have been pulled off one by a lion might have something to do with it...

In any case, two other things about them. Og mentioned the opinion of Mrs. Og; I told him to give her a ride. She might like it, and there's a reason there used to be a shirt that said 'Harley-Davidson, the world's first 700-lb vibrator'.

Second is, a lady who used to live nearby, who I occasionally gave rides to(on the bike, dirtbag) decided to move back to New York, so a couple of days before she moved I took her to dinner. I had to goose it a bit(the BIKE, dammit) getting into traffic, and as we ate she commented that she didn't know my bike would move like that.

Hehehe.

The on-ramp from Meridian to I-40 eastbound is a long, gently-sloped one, so I detoured on the way back, and was able to time it so we were stopped at the ramp until it was clear before us. About that time she yelled "There's a semi behind us!" as one pulled up. I said "Not for long" and punched it all the way up the ramp. I actually had to slow down to merge into traffic, and it only took a few minutes to get her home. I parked, got off and removed my helmet, and helped her take hers off. She sat there with a strange look on her face, half-giggling, and finally-in a quiet voice- said "I think I had an orgasm back there..."

Hey, what's a chance of severe bodily harm in exchange for moments like that?

Postal match targets

Because it would have taken for-freakin'-ever to send these to Mr. Completely, I'm just posting the damn things.

First, the model 36, offhand

and from a rest



Next, the Makarov, offhand

from a rest


Last, the Ruger MkII, offhand

and rested



I don't do much bullseye shooting with handguns, mostly do that with rifle. I think I need to put more holes in bullseyes with the short irons; I need the practice.

The postal match

Shot my entries yesterday. However, my connection is so bloody slow right now I'll try sending the pics tomorrow; perhaps the deities of the internet will smile upon things then.

I have to say, I've had worse days at the range, but it's been a while. Between rushing to get there and tired eyes...
I shot three. First, a S&W model 36, the old Chief's Special, 2" snubbie in .38Spl. I have absolute confidence that in a self-defense situation this piece will put all five rounds where needed; but between my eyes and those fine sights, that little bullseye was an elusive bastard. Also, by the time I finished 55 rounds(5 sighters and 50 for score), that little butt had beaten my hand up a bit. It's a good carry piece, but wasn't made for a lot of shooting at a time.

Second was a Makarov semi-auto, 9x18mm. Only problem I have with it is the sights; the front is a low, narrow post and the rear a low, narrow notch. And after the .38, my hand was a bit touchy, scores so-so.

Third a Ruger Mk II, .22 semi-auto. Light recoil and good, easy-to-see sights. I expected really good scores here, as I've always shot well with it, and this is where I really got ticked for two reasons. First, my hands were bothering me enough at this point to be a slight problem. And second, this pistol that has never missed a beat, was now giving light firing pin strikes, which caused- on average- every fourth round to misfire. Sometimes two in a row. And that crap will really throw you off your stride. So, though these scores were better than the other two, they were disappointing. Very.

No, I'm not making excuses for lousy shooting. I am bitching and whining about it, which is a whole 'nother thing.

And on top of that, Steve is currently without power due to the hurricane damage in the Holy City, and cannot regale us with tales of recipes and bird antics. And New Orleans, where my daughter would like to live, is evacuating and wondering if coffins will be floating down the river and streets again. Damn.

Sometimes I don't trust the Discovery Channel

Besides the "We're all gonna die!!!" crap with mega-volcanos and mega-tsunamis and so forth, it's little things.

A while back they were talking about subduction zone earthquakes and talking about the northwest coast of North America they said something like "in the 200 years Europeans have lived here". 'Europeans'? Oh, please, can you come up with a better example of politically correct wording? Not 'written history', not 'documented history', not even 'the 200 years whites have lived here'. No, it's 'Europeans'.

Maybe the idiots who made this don't realize it, but having ancestors from Europe does not make you a European. If it did, then there wouldn't be American Indians, there'd be 'Asians who lived here'. (no, I don't call the tribes 'Native Americans'; that covers everyone born here)

Why do these clowns have to crap things up like this?

Carnival of Cordite#28

is up over at Gullyborg. All kinds of tests and information, including the latest on that godawful mess in VA at the gun show.

This thing has gone on for 28 issues now, and still going strong. Don't you love it?

On that mess in VA, I first heard about it from Kim here; he had a followup here, which includes how the ATFE people probably got the personal information to make these 'residence checks'. Ravenwood has more here. There is NO excuse for this kind of nonsense, and I hope Showmasters goes the full legal mile.

And for anyone who speaks of the 'wonders of law enforcement in Britain',

give them this. Father and son grabbed, held, DNA samples taken, the whole bloody works. For plastic toy guns.

This is why we have to scream and yell and throw fits when something like the previous post happens; for our descendants and ourselves, we CANNOT let this happen here.

Major media slant and federal agency abuse

First, this story from Jack Kelly, on how an Army officer gave the New York Times some good news, and the Times(surprise!) spun it to look as bad as possible. Jackasses.

And Kim had something on this a couple of days ago, found this this morning on that mess at a VA gun show. Read it. There is no excuse for these actions, period. And like other abuses, it makes it that much harder for the officers/agents actually trying to do the job right to do so.

In the spirit of 'Step by Step', how to make a fork

Not just any fork, mind you, but the heavy-duty, solid steel Roasting Fork! Good for marshmallows, hot dogs, brats, large squirrels, small rabbits and (shudder) any odd chunks of vegetable you might wish to carbonize. And since I remembered to take the camera with me in time, here it is.

I use 3/16" square stock for most of these, you can use heavier if you need to make a sturdier one. I can usually work on three of these at a time, it's faster and easier than one at a time. I have done four when in a hurry. Cut a section 30" long, and put one end in the fire.


When at a nice red heat, flatten the last inch a bit


Back into the fire, heat, then use the hot cutter I pictured a while back to split the flattened section, then spread the two tines.

I can't remember if I said it before, but if you're cutting on the anvil face, use a piece of mild steel on the face; it protects the face from getting dinged and your chisel edge from being destroyed.

Heat one tine, then to the anvil to draw it out longer & thinner. Hit on one side, turn it 1/4 turn and hit, repeat back & forth till you have the length you desire.


Heat & draw out the other tine.


Now heat both, and use tongs, pliers, whatever to bend them to your chosen fork shape.


Now, just for decoration, I like to put a twist in the stock just behind the fork. I use this tool:

which has a slot cut & filed to just fit over the stock. Remember, when the stuff it hot it expands, so this'll be a bit loose on a cold piece. Heat the stock for a few inches behind the fork, clamp the shank in the vise, put your twisting tool on the stock, and twist. However much you like, clockwise or widdershins doesn't matter. When making these at a fair I'll sometimes use less/more or left/right in a set so someone's kids won't argue about which belongs to who.


Now it should look something like this:


Now for something to hold on to, flatten the other end


Curl it back. Get it hot, bend the very end over the anvil, then hold it on the face and tap with a hammer on the end; you can curl it right up.


Now heat a few inches back, set on the anvil, grab with tongs and bend back


To close it I heat the end, set the long side on the anvil and use a hold-down to brace it just before the closed-end curve, then use tongs to bend the open end closed.


And it comes out something like this


I'll wire-brush these to clean them off, then paint with linseed oil; let it sit a few minutes, wipe off the excess, then hang up in the garage to dry. It does a pretty good job of preventing rust, and gives the piece a nice look.

There, isn't that simple? Disregard that it was mid-80's and humidity in the mid-90's this morning(oh, how I suffer for my art!) and I thought I was going to drown in my own sweat, just express your appreciation appropriately. Cash, good whiskey or- never mind.

Animal rights people are insane

They can't convince/threaten a family into stopping their business of breeding guinea pigs for medical research, so they dig up and steal the body of a relative and refuse to return it until the family goes out of business. And one of the idiots in charge of this loose association of terrorists says it's a 'victory'.

Hey, stupid! I'm having chicken tonight!

Here's one for Acidman

Rob is, shall we say, not enamored of snakes. One of my neighbors was a medic in an infantry unit in Vietnam, also detests snakes, and told me this story:

His unit went out one day with strict orders to make no noise; basically, "Unless the enemy sees you and you have to shoot, do nothing to let them know you're there". So they went out into the jungle, and as they passed through an area the lieutenant suddenly said "Sergeant, don't move!" The sergeant, thinking it was a mine or boobytrap, froze, then looked down.

He was standing astride a python, and it had reared up in front of him- the lieutenant saw it just as it moved- and was poised with its' mouth open about 18" from the sergeants' crotch. Now, a python is not venomous, but they have lots of sharp teeth and can, to quote Capstick, bite the tax reform act out of you. The sergeant stayed very still, and the lieutenant slowly moved up- the snake making no effort to leave- then eased his rifle muzzle past the sergeants leg and almost into the snake's mouth, then pulled the trigger. Short burst, dead snake. So far, so good.

The captain now came on the radio for a contact report, and the lieutenant informed him no, no VC, just a BIG snake he had to shoot. This did not go over well, and the captain, probably thinking someone had a negligent discharge, ordered the snake brought back so he could see it.

Jim says this is where he really learned the value of keeping your mouth shut. The first thing he said after hearing they had to take it back was "I'm not carrying the sonofabitch", which was immediately followed by the officer pointing at him and saying "Get over here". So his load was spread around and he had to drape the damn thing over his shoulders and start walking. Think about this: with the head mostly blown off it dragged the ground on one side, went over his shoulders, then dragged on the other side. And that's a small python of the type. And he carried it for four kilometers back to base.

And just to make it really fun, every time they came out of shade into direct sunlight, the heat caused the nerves and muscles to react and it would start twisting around him. He says that after the first time he never noticed how heavy it was, because when in the sun it was moving on him, and when they got into shade it would calm down and he was so relieved that nothing else mattered.

They finally reached camp, and when the captain came out and asked where the blanking snake was, Jim walked up. The lieutenant grabbed the tail and told him to turn around, they unwound it and laid it out. The captain looked at it, and said "Well... Tomorrow, you head back out-" and that was all he said.

And yes, Jim STILL hates snakes.

Able Danger, and other cover-ups

Captain's Quarters has been, as Michelle Malkin puts it, 'on fire' with AD coverage, and also information on Gorelick and the 'wall' she put into place between law enforcement and intelligence. One of the things that strikes me about the Able Danger mess is the same that strikes me on the stuff coming out on the Oklahoma City Bombing: the coverup.

In both cases you've got people in government who had information about a serious threat, provided by intelligence work(both LE and military); either ignored it or mishandled it for various reasons; horrible events happened and people died; and the main concern of those in charge seems to be "Don't let anybody know we knew this!". Screw finding out exactly what went wrong, to hell with punishing people who didn't do their damn jobs, and making sure it doesn't happen again? Oh, really, how provincial! WE have to protect our agency/reputation/boss! That's FAR more important!

And that seems to be exactly what's happening on a number of fronts. Remember the FBI agent who wanted to get a warrant to search the suspect's laptop, and his boss refused to even request the warrant for fear of being seen as 'insensitive' or 'bigoted' or whatever? His career concerns mattered more than what might happen, and what did happen to him? Was he fired, disciplined, SOMETHING? Hell, no. The FBI agent who refused to wear a wire when talking to a suspect because 'a Muslim doesn't record another Muslim'? Fired, disciplined? Hell no, that would be seen as bigoted and/or insensitive, so he was PROMOTED and transferred somewhere else. In the FBI you have a culture that mimics other large bureaucracies like the Justice Department and State: the reputation of the organization is more important than anything else, and if we have to stonewall and coverup and, in all too many cases, flat-out lie to protect it, so be it.

And you KNOW there are a lot of people in all those agencies who are dying inside because of it. The FBI, as one example, has a lot of very good, very capable people. They joined to fight crime and catch bad guys and protect this country. A lot of them have attitude problems, but that doesn't change the fact that they are very, very good at what they do. And they get to sit there watching higher-ups turn down information and lose cases and endanger the very things these people value simply to protect/enhance the reputations of themselves and the Bureau. It has to be killing them inside to watch this, and yet they very rarely speak of it in public. I think there are three main reasons: hope, training and fear. Hope, in that they keep hoping things will get better and the job will get done right. Training because by the time you get through the FBI Academy, you've been taught that the Director sits at God's right hand and gives advice, and you're somewhat below that and don't make trouble for your 'betters'. And fear because they know what kind of trouble the Bureau can cause for someone who irritates the brass hats. Put it all together, it's a massive block to get through, and very few do. And in many cases they do accomplish good things, so they keep working at what they can, and push the pain of what's coming out into a corner. So I think.

All this isn't helped by Congress being so unwilling in so many cases to actually do something about wrongdoers. Because someone supports a political view or is in a favored agency or is just one of the 'good' or 'protected' people, they don't get whacked on the way they should when the do wrong. Remember the Keating Five? And McCain is still in office. Hell, Barney Frank had a boyfriend running a brothel out of Frank's house, and he basically got his hand slapped. Lightly. You've got a lot of people in office who'll protect, for instance, people in the State Department against almost anything because they have the 'right' point of view, and what's a little corruption or idiocy or treason compared to that?

Hmm? Oh, yes, I DO have an answer. Start holding these people accountable. Demote, fire, prosecute and so forth when they do wrong, no matter who they know and no matter what it does to the reputation of whatever agency/party. Unfortunately, not too likely to happen. I hope, but I also despair about this.

Putting an edge on it

Over the years I've used all kinds of things to sharpen knives and axes. Stones, sticks, sanding belts and so forth. They've all got their good and bad points. A good stone will put a fine edge on, but can take forever, and you really need at least two stones: a medium for setting up a good edge bevel on a new blade or repairing a badly dulled or damaged edge, and a fine for finishing the edge off. Mind you, this method has worked for several thousand years and still does the job quite well. One of the best types of stone I've found is the Norton Crystolon for fast cutting, and an India or Arkansas stone for finishing the edge. Side note, a hard Arkansas does a pretty nice job of putting a polish on trigger or other action parts, too.

There are some very nice ceramic sharpeners out there. Some are sticks, round or otherwise, some are flat rectangles. I've got some small ceramic stones, about 2x3" I found at a surplus store that are great for touching up an edge, pretty fast-cutting and clean up with water. There are round ones with handles called 'crock sticks' you use like a butchers steel. I've also used a Spyderco sharpener. It's a plastic base that holds two triangular ceramic sticks, corners are medium grit and flats are fine; you put the sticks in the base and draw the edge of the knife along the sticks, one side and then the other. Not a bad tool, if you're careful you can vary the angle of the edge to get different bevels.

Then there are some systems that use a fixture that holds the blade, and small stones you attach to guide rods. There are holes in the fixture the rods go through to set the angle, and you draw the stone along the edge- Lansky is a common one. These work very well, and if you have trouble keeping the edge at the same angle as you work, this is a good system.

I mentioned sanding belts. I use a fine belt, about 240 grit, to do the initial sharpening on blades I make, then either a fine stone or steel to finish it. It's fast, but if you're not damn careful you can overheat the edge in a spot, or take off too much. And if I want a really, really fine edge I take a hard felt buffing wheel, which will keep a nice flat surface, load it with a fine polishing compound and finish the edge with that. Not that good for heavy-cutting edges, but if you need a really smooth, fine edge it's wonderful. It also has the added advantage of being a bit dangerous; you get careless with that buffed edge doing the final touch, and you'll be bleeding before you realize you've been cut.

Yes, knife people are a bit strange.

One of the tools I use most, because it a: works and b: I can carry it around, is this Gerber steel:

The narrow edges is medium, the flats are fine. It folds into the leather for carry, and the leather gives you a handle when you use it. I've used this thing on knives, axes, swords and scissors with good results. It doesn't show in the picture, but the leather's a bit beat up from the years and use, but it's still going strong. When you're finished, wipe it lengthwise with a cloth and a bit of oil and the metal bits come out of the grooves and it's ready for next time.

I haven't much experience with the various diamond stones. The idea is good, I'd guess how one works depends on how well the diamond dust is bonded to the substrate. I have known people who swear by them.

In history they've used- still use- everything from a smooth rock from a riverbed to a building block to sharpen tools; there are stones in Hadrian's Wall hollowed out in the center from countless soldiers touching up a blade on them. But it is a bit easier with something intended for the purpose.

More on the Trentadue & OKC Bombing cases

KTOK-AM had this today: "A newly released lawsuit deposition reveals now-retired Oklahoma Medical Examiner Doctor Fred Jordan changed his testimony about the August 1995 mysterious death of federal prison inmate Kenneth Trentadue and stated Trentadue had been involved in a fight before he died and might have been strangled with a plastic handcuff."

This goes on into, among other things, the retired ME saying in sworn testimony that Trentadue had died due to suicide, with his injuries being caused by the way he did it, and telling the Trentadue family, and writing in the file, ""I indicated that I felt Mr. Trentadue had been abused and tortured and at this point was not sure whether his death could be explained as a suicide or whether it should be regarded as a homicide."" And stating in a later deposition "Jordan went on to claim in the December 2002 deposition, given on the eve of his retirement as State Medical Examiner that he had been subjected to harassment and intimidation by FBI agents. "I don't think there's any question I was harassed by the Department of Justice from the very beginning of this, the 21st of August when we were denied access to do a job we'd been summoned to do,"".

Ok, this is getting worse and worse as time goes by. The documents the Trentadue family has received so far, after years of fighting, had already revealed some really nasty stuff. Now, on top of earlier reports of the normal investigative routine of a death at the facility being trashed, we have the ME at the time saying the Justice Department- not just the FBI- harassing him. Oh, and as to his 'suicide by hanging'? "...a picture of Kenneth Trentadue showing the deep bloody wounded across his death. He said the marks left on Trentadue's neck appeared to be those made by plastic handcuffs which had left tiny ladder like marks from one end of the wound to the other."

I repeat what I said earlier; the longer this is dragged out, the worse it's going to be.

You know, I haven't heard much of anything about this on any MSM site. I can't speak of the evening news, because I haven't watched it in a long time(I just don't trust them anymore). But I do have to wonder; with everything that's coming out about both the bombing and the Trentadue case, why not? You have FBI and federal lawyers from the Justice Department lying to a judge and defense attorney, you have evidence being covered up and/or destroyed, you have efforts to silence Mr. Trentadue, you have at least one man dead in circumstances you'd think would have reporters and journalists all over the place asking questions. I have to wonder if it's at least partly because who was President and who was Attorney General at the time this stuff happened: Bill Clinton and Janet Reno.

Whatever the reason, it's a shame. And this also connects back to all the work Jayna Davis did that found interesting connections between McVeigh and the bombing and, among others, possible Iraqi intelligence agents. You know, the stuff that the feds said was a load of crap, with no facts behind it?

Brings up the question as to just who is full of crap.

Mexico, what to do about

Was browsing around and a link took me here(dammit, I can't remember where I found the link at!), a guy living in Mexico and his thoughts on what it'll take to fix the situation there.

Short version about a century. With luck.

I've never been there, so I'm going by many things I've heard and read. I know it's about the only country where the State Department recommended that any U.S. citazen getting in a legal problem is better off paying a bribe than trying to handle it in court(do they still recommend that?). I know that in many cities they paid police a bare-minimum salary because it was expected they would take bribes. But his description is amazing.

Take a look and see what you think about it.

My primary take for the last few years was wishing President Fox would shut the hell up about how Mexicans have a 'right' to come here any time they please, and worry about fixing his own damn country. This post just made it worse. It also made worse my wish that Pres. Bush would tell him to shut the hell up and start doing something on his side of the border.

More OKC Bombing news

KTOK-AM carried this story today: "Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue says he is surprised at the order of a federal judge who wants to see unredacted FBI files in Trentadue's Freedom of Information fight."

I mentioned in my last post on this that Mr. Trentadue had received a bunch of documents; they were heavily redacted, with names and information blacked out.

"Earlier this week the judge made it known to the FBI he wants to see the FBI files turned over to Trentadue last month. But Judge Dale A. Kimball told the FBI he personally wants to see the 'unredacted' version of the documents, those papers which have not been blacked out by the government to protect the names of individuals. The judge set a hearing for October 12th at 3pm."

This is serious stuff. If the judge sees that government lawyers lied to him, I believe that is an offense for which they can be disbarred and/or prosecuted. If the FBI agents involved are proven to have lied, I do believe that is called purjury, and carries a prison sentance. And it would almost certainly go 'way up the chain of command in the FBI and Justice Department.

If you haven't heard of this mess before, what started Trentadue digging into it? "Trentadue has been fighting the government for documents about the August 1995 death of his brother Kenneth Trentadue at the Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center. He believes his brother died in a fierce FBI interrogation because he closedly matched the description of a suspect sought in the bombing of the Murrah building."

And the longer the government lawyers drag this out, the worse it'll be in the end.

Part 4, hardening and tempering

Heat-treating is generally two steps. First, you have to get the piece up to critical temperature, evenly thoughout the length and width(more on that later), and quench it in whatever's appropriate for that steel to harden it. Second, you have to heat it up again, but to a much lower temperature; you have to ease the stresses in the blade enough that it won't be brittle, but will still be hard enough to hold an edge well.

What steel you used decides what the critical temperature will be, how you quench it, and how you temper it. Most of the fairly simple carbon steels are very similar in these respects; critical temperature is 1450-1550 degrees F. They can all be quenched in oil to harden. And the temperatures for tempering range from 350-600, depending on the steel and the use intended. A blade that has to be able to do heavy cutting and chopping shouldn't be as hard as one for fine work where you don't want to have to sharpen it often, for instance.

To touch basically- very basically- on how this works, steel has a crystilline structure that changes according to temperature and stress. When you heat it up to the critical temp, several things happen. The matrix of the structure opens up and carbon atoms can actually migrate through it(this is what allows case-hardening to work); the steel gets soft(duh); and most steels go non-magnetic(this temp is also known as the curie point). If you take a piece to a low heat, say 1200 F, and let it cool slowly, you normalize it, evening out and relieving stresses in the piece. If you get it to that temp and cool it very slowly, in hot ashes for instance, you can anneal it, making it as soft and easy to work as it can be, with the structure settling into, let's call it a relaxed structure(yes, there are specific words for the different states, but I can't remember them right now and don't have a reference handy; I'll try to add them in later). If you take it to the critical temperature and quench it, the structure freezes in a very stressed state, and under a microscope the structure will look different, with a needle-like appearance called martinsite(the one word I remember offhand). A high-carbon steel in this state is very hard; a sharp file won't cut it, and it's so brittle that dropping it might crack or break it. Tempering changes the structure a bit and relieves some of the stress, and here you have the hardness/toughness balancing act.

Let's say I'm making a large bowie or dirk out of 5160 spring stock. First problem is to get it up to proper heat along the full length. If you have access to or decide to buy or make an electric furnace, no problem; set the temperature to 1500F, set the blade in the oven and let it get to critical heat. In a forge, you may have to modify the firebed to get a long, narrow fire. What I wound up doing is taking a piece of about 3" diameter steel pipe long enough to fit into the firepot; split it lengthwise; then drill a bunch of holes in one half, no bigger than 1/4" and all along the length and partway down the sides. Then, get a piece of sheet steel and cut an hourglass shape out(you'll have to measure, cut and try to get it to fit), bend it in the middle, take the grate out of the firepot and set this into the hole. The idea is this piece will spread the air blast along the length of the pipe grate, instead of mostly hitting in the center. Set the pipe grate in place, and build your fire over it.

While the fire burns, make sure your quench method is ready. With smaller pieces you can use a can or bucket of oil, but for longer ones you'll need more length. A double-edge piece will have to be quenched point down, but a single-edge can be quenched lengthwise. I got a piece of steel channel about 3" square, cut one side open, and had ends welded on; I can fill it half to two-thirds full and do a fairly long and heavy blade in it. In either case the oil needs to be warmed, because it will flow better and give a more even effect; I usually set a piece of bar stock about 1" diameter in the fire while it's burning clean, and when the bar is low red, put it in the oil, you want it at about 100 F. A point here about single-edge blades; you don't have to heat them all the way from edge to back. Take a dirk that's about 2" wide at the ricasso and tapering. You can heat it so the area about 1/2" to 3/4" back from the edge is at critical temp and lower it edge-first into the oil. It'll smoke and bubble something fierce, and may ignite on the surface, so use tongs that will hold it securely and give you some distance. The advantages of this are two; first it's a lot easier in most cases to heat this section than the whole width of the blade, and this gives a hardened edge section with a softer, tougher back. Done right a blade like this is incredibly tough, and you probably won't live long enough to wear back through the hardened section. Further note: with a long single-edge blade, I try to finish the forging and grinding so the piece actually curves up toward the back a bit; when you quench it the edge section will shrink and pull it down into line.

You'll need to let the fire burn clean and even, then set the piece in. You want a very low air blast here; the piece needs to heat up slowly and evenly, so move it back & forth a bit too. You can check the temperature four ways. If you have one/access to one, an infrared thermometer would be nice. You can use a Templestick, a high-temperature crayon; pick one for the temp you want and either mark the blade and wait 'til it melts or lift it enough to wipe the crayon on it. You can use a magnet. When I mentioned they go non-magnetic, it means that at that temp a magnet will not stick, so you can use a shop magnet on a handle and touch it to the blade, when it doesn't stick you're there. And you can do it traditionally, learn to know the color that means you're there. I'd say a cherry red, but the description varies by who's giving it, so use some scrap pieces and practice. If the piece is not hot enough, it won't harden completely; too hot and the structure enlarges and the piece will be weaker than it should, in extreme cases the edge can actually crumble a bit under stress. So work the piece back & forth and watch the heat. When it's ready lift it out and put it into the quench. If you do this inside, you better have a fan set up for ventilation, especially with a big piece it takes a bit for it to lose heat and the oil will be smoking the whole time. Leave it until all heat coloring has disappeared, and if possible a while more, then take it out and let it cool completely. Turn the fire down but not out, because when the piece has reached ambient temperature, you need to clean it off thoroughly; inspect it for any warping so you'll know where to straighten it(mark with soapstone or something similar); and harden it again. I generally do two quenches with most steels. After the second, leave it in the oil for a while, then take it out and let it cool. And unless you're doing another piece, you can put the fire out now.

When the piece is all the way cooled off, inspect it again, and if all is well you can start tempering it. I wipe it down thoroughly, then wash it with dish soap(Dawn in my case) to get rid of the scale and oil, and put it in the oven. Yes, the one I bake in, which is why I'm fairly damn picky about washing all the oil off first. I set the heat at 375 F for the first heat, let it get up to temp and then leave it for about an hour. Then I pull it out and let it cool, then I hit it with the belt grinder to shine the sides up. I could probably do this before the first heat, but if I drop it it might crack, so I do one heat first. After shining it up I put it back in and, in the case of a piece like this, set the heat up to 425, leave it for long enough to get up to heat plus one hour. Pull it out, let it cool and check the color. For a big blade like this I want a bronze color, or dark yellow, along the edge. If it's lighter than that I increase the heat for the next time. If it got too hot? I reduce the heat by 25 degrees for the next heat, and hope the testing shows it's not softer than I want. Which is why I start below what I figure is needed and work up. And yes, for some things I know what temp I want and just go with it, but for bigger or more intricate shapes I start a bit low.

I do three tempering heats, cooling completely between. After cooling from the last heat, it's time for the next step: testing.

Carnival of Cordite #27

Over at Gullyborg. Some interesting stuff again, so go see.

And when you can, look over his place; it's well worth the time.

Ok, THIS just screws up my good mood

Went over to Kim's place and found this. Short version, they Brazilian the British cops killed was killed in error and the cops lied about it.

No 'heavy coat', no 'suspicious behaviour', no 'attempt to flee'. Instead the cops screwed the pooch bigtime and killed the man.

Crap. As Kim says, read the whole article here for the full flavor of this screwup.

The Gunny Bestiary

The last time I went to the range, I found that some people had left behind what is termed, by handloaders, as a 'buttload' of .30-06 and .30-30 brass, heavy on the '06. It occurred to me, as I was picking this up, that there is a sub-species of shooter that might not be that familiar to the new shooter, and to some more experienced folks. Thus, I present this small contribution to your knowledge base.

The Handloader or Reloader (brassus used pickupus) is a somewhat common subtype of the shooting genus. Physical appearance can vary widely; both sexes can be found in this type. Often the male of this type has a mate who shakes her head and mutters things when he brings a new bounty into the nest area; females are usually mated to a male who is also a Reloader. There is some disagreement as to whether this is an actual subspecies, or simply a common shooter(bang-bang multiplus) who has been infected by some agent causing this change in behaviour.

In the nest area they are easy to tell. The work areas tend to have buckets/bags full of cartridge cases, instruments known as 'loading presses' and 'scales' and 'measures', and (often) numerous books and other publications on this subject. Occasionally the work area has a strange scent reminiscent of smokeless propellent, which when noticed causes cursing and a rapid search by the Handloader for any loose lids on containers. There may also be precision instruments(they claim) such as 'micrometers' and 'calipers'. The 'scale' and 'measure' should probably fit into this classification, but depending on whether they have been dropped/knocked down/shot, they may not actually be that precise.

In the 'open range' environment they sometimes may be told by plastic ammo boxes and notebooks on the bench; truly rabid specimens may have some of the 'scales' and/or 'measures' and a 'press' on the bench, where they mutter alchemical formulae and construct their own ammunition. These signs are often missing, however there is an almost no-fail method of telling the specimen; they will often be found, after they or someone else has finished shooting, walking around/in front of the benches in a crouch picking up fired cases. If in doubt, observe closely and you may well see the specimen holding the fired case in such a way as to attempt to see how many holes are in the bottom; since the hole/holes will be on the inside, this can lead to some amusing head and hand motions as they attempt to see inside.

In the clubhouse or gun store they may also be found speaking in tongues, referring to things such as 'meplat' and 'leade' and IMR(followed by numbers); they can sometimes become rather testy and loud when some other Handloader informs them that their 'pet load' doesn't work worth crap and that the Handloader being addressed is an idiot.

Overall the Handloader, while sometimes boring/annoying, is a harmless creature, as long as you do not smoke in the work area; this activity can cause serious upset in the being.

Although it is suspected to be an infectious activity as opposed to an actual different type, no special protection is required in their presence.

Although occasionally earplugs may be considered a plus. Especially if someone does smoke in the work area.

For what it's worth.

No more of my money for this idiot

I always liked the music of Carlos Santana. Never knew much about him, other than his being a good musician. Then, a few months ago I read of his wearing a 'Che' t-shirt to the Oscars, and the reaction to that. And today, I read this, linking to this.

Crap. I really hate finding out that an artist I admire has turned out to be a jackass such as this. Especially when it's someone who, had he lived in Cuba under castro and his little butt-monkey, would have wound up in a camp and/or spending a few years in the cane fields.

Want to find out more about this? Go here, it's the search page for Babalu Blog on 'Santana', and click around. Just about guarenteed to piss you off. At least if you actually care about the idea of freedom.

As Kim puts it, it's Red Curtain Of Blood time

If this crap (found at Libercontrarian) doesn't make you see red and need breakables put out of reach, you need help.

We've been hearing a lot lately about judicial arrogance and abuse of authority; this is exactly the kind of crap spoken of. People held in jail and no communication allowed with the outside world, because the judge says he feels 'threatened'.

This idiot SHOULD feel threatened, threatened with being thrown off the bench, disbarred, and tried and jailed for his violations of the highest law of this land. And THEN his ass sued off, along with every idiot, like the prosecutor, who had a part in this. As the Rivrdog put it, this is the kind of thing that makes people remember what the 2nd Amendment is there for.

Just read it.

It seems connected...

By that I mean the stuff I've noted earlier about the FBI & co. telling lies to judges and defense attorneys and covering up, and the other covering up coming uncovered ref the 9/11 Commission and Atta and Able Danger.

As various people from Roger to the Captain(here and here) to Mark Steyn have been pointing out, the commission, it turns out, seems to have spent as much time acting to protect people as it did actually, oh, investigating things. When on the commission, as Steyn puts it, "There was at least one person with an outrageous conflict of interest: Clinton Justice Department honcho Jamie Gorelick, who shouldn't have been on the commission but instead a key witness appearing in front of it.", that tells you something about the aims of the commission.
And seems to match up pretty well with what has been happening in the OKC Bombing case; lots of information turning up that shows the FBI knew a lot more about McVeigh and connections to other people than it said, that the Bureau lied about it, and is stonewalling to try to cover up as much as possible.

I've said before that I take no pleasure in pointing out this crap. I grew up around law enforcement, I always respected those wo do the work and expected that they would do the right thing. Especially a group like the FBI. I don't question that there are good people in that agency, and ATF; I also no longer question that there are bad people there, people who will lie under oath, and cover up wrongdoing by themselves and others, and do almost anything to protect 'the Agency' or 'the Bureau', including violating the oath to protect and defend the Constitution that they took. And there's far too many politicians who will wink at it, or actively support it, for various reasons. It's horribly disillusioning, it's downright painful, and I don't like it.

The best that can come out of this is fairly simple and straightforward: find the ones who lied, who did wrong, who covered up, and a: fire them and b: prosecute them. If for some reason you can't prosecute them, you can at least get them out of their position so they can't do more harm and make examples of them. We NEED law enforcement to be trusted, to be able to do the job, and we won't- probably can't- have that if they don't act, and Congress won't act, to clean it up when things like this happen. The problem is there are, as I mentioned, people in Congress who think it's a good thing they did these things because it suits whatever agenda they're trying to promote.

God, this is a mess.

I'm baaaaaack...

But not much to say tonight. Good visit with some good folks. An even better visit in that it involved helping them choose and buy things that go 'bang'.

Oh, you know Cabela's? Big catalog store, until recently didn't have a store anywhere in the region; until now. They recently opened a store just north of Fort Worth, and we spent some time looking around. Lord, it's huge! Guns and ammo and bows and boats and clothes and boots and sharp things and fishing gear and, and, and.... If you're anywhere close enough, it's worth the trip to see. Where else are you going to find .470 Nitro Express snap caps and, in the fine guns room, a .470 double rifle? AND a couple of .500 Nitro Express.

There's even a damn candy store, with some of the best fudge you'll ever find.

Later.

Just before I leave part 2: various feds

Federals, that is. I can't find the link right now, but it boils down to this: ref the earlier posts on new information about the Oklahoma City Bombing(here, here and here), Trentadue has received more documents from the FBI ref the death of his brother. The current batch include information that the FBI was going to run bugs on him and on an inmate he was going to interview so as to try to find something to either blackmail him with, or use to charge him with a crime so as to shut him up and force him to drop the case.

The following is from a guy who was raised around LE people, to have respect for law enforcement in this country:
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!? This is NOT the conduct expected of people in your positions; your conduct should be to find the people who did wrong- WHOEVER THEY ARE- and bring them to justice. Or doesn't the concept of 'Justice' mean anything to you anymore? Is covering up mistakes and protecting the Bureau's reputation more important? If it is, we have a real, real big problem; and you should be very, very ashamed.

Enough. See you folks in a few days

Before I leave part 1: Insane or nutcase women

I had- HAD, I tell you!- to do two last things. The first is this: over at the Hog's place I read this the other day, referring to that nut Sheehan who's in Crawford, TX for the purpose of playing victim and annoying people. She's bad enough, but on the radio today I heard some women who showed up to 'show support for this woman who sacrificed her son on the altar of Bush's lies', I believe was the wording.

Lady(using the term loosely), SHUT THE HELL UP! She did NOT 'sacrifice' anyone; in case you haven't heard, this is a volunteer military and her son SIGNED UP! And you are not there to 'show support', you're there to play your little political game and whack on the President. So, I repeat, SHUT UP.

Steve put it this way about women who crave attention: "Cindy Sheehan is a textbook example. Her son volunteered to serve in the military, and he died in a conflict which both major political parties supported. A conflict John Kerry said was justified even if there were no WMDs in Iraq. She got a little attention for it last year, and instead of satisfying her, all it did was make her want more". He just forgot to mention the others who either want their piece of attention, want to use Sheehan for their own ends, or both.

We will resume your vacation, after this short blogging break

Mostly posting information on gas mileage in the bike since the Microlon use.

Just before heading out, that fillup was 136 miles & 2.7 gallons, just over 50mpg. Going to see my folks was 90 miles at 75-80 with enough of a headwind to be uncomfortable; it also helped trash the mileage: 90 miles, 2.6 gallons, 34mpg! Yikes! I mentioned before I'd not kept really close track of this stuff before, it's amazing what the combination of those speeds and a strong headwind does. I have noticed that with a light wind or a tailwind, 75-80 still gives about 45mpg(in the past), we'll find out about that in the future. The trip back was, by the time I filled up, 100 miles total, 70-75, with the wind a bit more on an angle than a direct headwind, used 2.4 gallons, 41.6 mpg.

Two things here. First is that since I didn't track mileage on highway closely I can't state flatly that the Microlon made that better, but I have definately noticed that I had more left in the tank this trip than under similar conditions before; I have definately noted better mileage on city street and around-town highway travel at 60-65. Second, I changed the oil just before heading out. The instructions say to leave the oil containing the treatment in for at least 1000 miles; I was right at 1000, and decided I wanted to go ahead and change it before I started on the road. Especially if the weather allows me to take the bike to Texas in a couple of days. So we'll see if the improved mileage continues with the fresh oil.

Weather her can be so strange...

The '30% chance of scattered thunderstorms' became steady rain for about an hour. That's not the strange; the strange is steady rain for an hour and the sun shining brightly. Rain that blows from the southwest for the first half-hour or so, then from the east. THEN it clouds over completely for a while.

The day was spent with my daughter trying out her birthday present, then helping some friends pack and load up after a small fair. And I'm going out of town for a few days, so it'll be a while before the next installment of 'How to burn your fingers and swear a lot while making a knife'.

Bye, folks